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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Former Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
(brka)
(brkb)
executive David Sokol has been cleared in a probe by the Securities and Exchange Commission into insider trading, according to press reports citing his lawyer. "There has been a thorough legal analysis and factual scrutiny and the SEC has concluded, as we have always maintained, that David Sokol never did anything wrong," Sokol's lawyer, Barry Wm. Levine told The Wall Street Journal. Sokol came under scrutiny after it was revealed he bought millions of dollars worth of Lubrizol Corp. stock before advising the purchase of the company by Berkshire Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett. Sokol resigned two years ago. A spokesman for the SEC declined to comment in a phone call with MarketWatch.

10:05AM

ISM services sector index accelerates in Decemberby Steve Goldstein

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Service-sector growth accelerated in December, as the Institute for Supply Management's services sector index climbed to 56.1% from 54.7% in November. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected a 54.7% reading. The details of the report also were generally good, with the new-orders index climbing by 1.2 percentage points to 59.3% and the employment index climbing 6 percentage points to 56.3%. Any reading above 50% indicates expansion.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Quiksilver Inc.
(zqk)
jumped 8.3% on Friday after it was raised to buy from neutral by Goldman Sachs. Avon Products Inc.
(avp)
, direct seller of beauty products, rose 3% after Bank of America-Merrill Lynch upgraded the stock to buy from neutral. Car retailer AutoNation Inc.
(an)
climbed 1.6% after the car retailer said its retail new vehicle unit sales rose 15% in December. Credit Suisse raised its ratings on Urban Outfitters Inc.
(urbn)
and Under Armour Inc.
(ua)
both to outperform from neutral, sending their shares up 0.8% and 1.9%, respectively. Target Corp.
(tgt)
edged up 0.4% after Janney Capital Markets raised its rating on the stock to buy from neutral. Among the decliners, Lululemon Athletica Inc.
(lulu)
fell 5.3% after Credit Suisse cut its rating on the stock to neutral from outperform. Finish Line Inc.
(finl)
dropped 3.5% after the athletic-shoe retailer's fiscal third-quarter result and fourth-quarter outlook both missed expectations. Walgreen Co.
(wag)
dipped 0.7% after the drugstore chain's December same-store sales fell more than expected.

10:00AM

U.S. factory orders flat in Novemberby Greg Robb

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Factory orders were unchanged in November, a result that was weaker than expected, the Commerce Department reported Friday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had forecast a 0.3% increase in factory orders. Prior to November, factory orders had increased in three of the past four months. Orders in November were held down by a drop in transportation equipment, especially civilian and military aircraft. Orders for durable goods increased 0.8% gain in November, revised up from 0.7% estimated two weeks ago. New orders for nondurable goods fell 0.6% after a 0.5% gain in October. Shipments increased 0.4% in November, the fourth gain in the past five months. Inventories were flat in November for the second straight month. There was some underlying strength in the report. Orders for capital goods excluding defense and aircraft rose 2.6% in November after a 3% gain in October. Shipments of these "core" orders, a key component of investment in the gross domestic product calculations, were up 2% in the month.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Exxon Mobil Corp.
(xom)
rose 0.1% while Chevron Corp.
(cvx)
moved up by 0.2% as energy stocks posted modest gains after Friday's U.S. December jobs report. The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund
(xle)
, which includes energy stocks in the S&P 500 Index
($spx)
, rose 0.6%. Among the early gainers, oil service firm National Oilwell Varco
(nov)
rose 1.5% and Cameron International
(cam)
moved up by 1.6%. First Solar Inc.
(fslr)
dropped 2.8% after a big rise in the previous session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
($dj)
rose 14 points.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Tech stocks were in a hunt for direction in early trading Friday as the broad market reacted to the latest unemployment rates and payrolls report. The Labor Department said the U.S. jobless rate in December held steady at 7.8%. Among tech stocks, declines came from Apple Inc.
(aapl)
, Microsoft Corp.
(msft)
and Amazon.com Inc.
(amzn)
. Coinstar Inc.
(cstr)
, which runs the line of Redbox DVD-rental kiosks, saw its shares fall almost 7%, to $48.47. Late Thursday, Coinstar announced the unexpected retirement of Chief Executive Paul Davis, effective March 31. The Nasdaq Composite Index
(comp)
shed almost 2 points to 3,098.

U.S. stocks waver at the open after jobs report
(
DJIASPXCOMP
)
by Polya Lesova

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks swung between marginal gains and losses at the open on Friday as traders digested data showing the economy created 155,000 jobs in December. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
(djia)
fell 12 points to 13,379 and the S&P 500 index
(spx)
edged up marginally to 1,459.6. The Nasdaq Composite index
(comp)
dropped 2.51 points to 3,098.

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